HOSPITAL CONSULTANTS will have to engage in more flexible work practices such as quicker discharge of patients, particularly at weekends, if they are to avoid further pay cuts, Minister for Health James Reilly has signalled.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association on Saturday, he said that such flexibilities could generate savings of more than €100 million. The Minister also said that while the health budget was facing further cuts next year, it would “absolutely not” be on the scale of the €1 billion reduction put in place in 2011.
He said he would be engaging in bilateral talks with Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin in the days ahead on the health budget for 2012. He said Mr Howlin had to find the savings being sought by the “troika” of €3.6-€4 billion. “Having said that, I have to fight my corner too and health did fess up in a major way this year,” he said.
The Minister also signalled he wanted to see new moves to strengthen management in the health service. He said there was a significant lack of management capability in some key hospitals.
Dr Reilly said that a tender process was under way in the Health Service Executive in the west to bring in new support for management in both Galway and Limerick. He said the contract would allow for new management to be grown underneath the management that comes in and for upskilling and support for existing management across the west.
The programme for government indicates that the Government will further reduce the pay of hospital consultants. Consultants receive €150,000-€190,000 depending on the type of contract. A 15 per cent pay cut has already been put in place while some pay rises agreed under a new contract were not implemented.
The new flexibilities envisaged for consultants would involve considerably more patients being treated and considerably quicker discharges, particularly at weekends. “There is a large political feeling that the knee-jerk good feel that we would get by reducing consultants’ remuneration is something we should do. And it is in the programme for government. I would much prefer to see the flexibility from consultants yielding this sort of outcome rather than going down that road .”
Dr Reilly said the Department of Health was prepared to be very flexible in how the proposed flexibility and quicker discharges could be achieved. He said a new contract was not necessary to secure the flexibilities he was seeking and that the terms of the existing contract and the Croke Park agreement on public service reform could be used.
Separately, Dr Reilly said he had instructed the HSE to pay a number of doctors from abroad who had not been able to sit a Medical Council exam to allow them to take up non-consultant posts.